Thursday, April 09, 2015

A research team from The Scripps Research Institute, Mayo Clinic and other institutions has identified a new class of drugs that in animal models dramatically slows the aging process -- alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan, according to a study in an upcoming issue of journal Aging Cell.The scientists coined the term "senolytics" for the new class of drugs. "The prototypes of these senolytic agents have more than proven their ability to alleviate multiple characteristics associated with aging," said Mayo Clinic Professor James Kirkland, MD, PhD, senior author of the new study. "It may eventually become feasible to delay, prevent, alleviate or even reverse multiple chronic diseases and disabilities as a group, instead of just one at a time."Senescent cells -- cells that have stopped dividing -- accumulate with age and accelerate the aging process. The team homed in on two available compounds -- the cancer drug dasatinib (sold under the trade name Sprycel®) and quercetin, a natural compound sold as a supplement that acts as an antihistamine and anti-inflammatory.Further testing in cell culture showed these compounds do indeed selectively induce death of senescent cells. The two compounds had different strong points. Dasatinib eliminated senescent human fat cell progenitors, while quercetin was more effective against senescent human endothelial cells and mouse bone marrow stem cells. A combination of the two was most effective overall.The compounds improved cardiovascular function and exercise endurance, reduced osteoporosis and frailty, and extended healthspan," said one of the researchers. "Remarkably, in some cases, these drugs did so with only a single course of treatment."Bonnie: How exciting! I cannot wait until they get to the testing in humans already. Oh wait, they should screen the thousands of clients of ours who have taken quercetin over the years!